I have a buddy that has been wanting to reload for me for a long time. He has dies and powder and primers. So all I have to do is give him bullets and brass. My ? is do I shoot a 180 gr( the rifle has liked any thing 180 I have feed it) or do I try one of the other two? I know if it ant broke don't fix it but would be nice to just see. Any ideas? Thanks Zimmer

Starting with a 180 gr would make the logical starting point since factory 180's have worked well for you in the past. The 220 gr Partition makes a great bear load but the 180-200 gr spitzers are superior to it for most things. I do love those 220's though What brand and type of bullets are you thinking of trying?

I went through this recently with the following results in a 300WM Tikka T3 Lite:

168's - Pretty nice groups and very little recoil.180's - Shot ok, not as good as expected. Recoil noticeable.200's - Groups under 1/2" on both Partitions and Accubonds with IMR 4350. Recoil fairly well pronounced.

Any good bullet will do the trick. Depends on "how" you want to do the trick (recoil level, distance, game, etc). I will likely end up using the 200 grain Accubond as I have smaller caliber rifles for other stuff and I want this one to be my longer distance/wind buffeting thumper.

Have had many 300Win Mag's over the years and most of them shot very well with 180gr. Ballistic tips or accubonds with RL22 powder and 215 primers.my latest is a Sendero that does not shoot the 180's all that great but shoots incredibly well with Berger210gr.VLD's with H1000. you might have to tinker just a bit to find what your rifle likes best.Bbtw I have had the best luck with my 300WM's shooting Nosler,Sierra and Berger bullet's for some reason Hornady ,Speer and Barnes have never shot well in mine. besides the two powders I mentioned also try VVN165 and IMR7828.

Some time ago more that 15 yrs back I read and artlicle with the same concerns you are having about reloading the 300 Win Mag. Regrettabley I only remember: the Author preferred for all his hunting the 220 grain round-nose at moderate velocity. Todays norm seems to be 'smok'n' velocity which does not necessarily equate with dotting-the-i accuracy!

In years past, I used the 300 Win mag and 200gr Partitions to take 6 elk (if memory serves me right) including my biggest bull. The 200gr would definitely be the bullet I would pick if I were loading for a 300 Win. mag.

I have been using 180 Sciroccos in my .300 Wby for elk, but when I acquired a .300 WSM a couple of years ago, I decided to try the 200 grain AccuBonds. At approximately 2,900 fps, they shoot well under an inch at 100 yds in my rifle and worked very well on the one elk that I have taken with them--a very large-bodied 6x6 bull. However, the 180 Sciroccos (at about 3,250 fps) killed two other big bulls just as dead, just as quickly. I imagine that Partitions would have worked just as well...

Edited by mudhen (03/31/09)Edit Reason: typo: 3,250, not 3,350

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You said the rifle likes 180's.Save the time,trouble,and component cost.Shoot a cheap 180 for practice,a good 180 for hunting.Load a pile of ammo with the cheap bullet and learn the load well.Other bullet weights are embelishment.

In a 300 mag for big game hunting,if you cannot get it done with a quality 180,you will likely not get it done with anything else.

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I have a 7mm mag. Why do I need all that other stuff?

Use whichever good bullet shoots best, with a preference to 180 grains. I've used 200 grains on elk and moose, and 180 grains on elk, and they both tasted pretty good to me (the animals, not the bullets). Seriously, there's no reason not to have complete confidence in a good 180 grain, but if you like other weights go ahead and use them.

I prefer 200 grain partitions with Retumbo powder in mine. Check out Hodgdon web site for recommended loads. I believe the 200 grain Nosler bullets are slightly better ballistically than the 180 grain Nosler bullets. Good all around load at near 3000 fps.

You said the rifle likes 180's.Save the time,trouble,and component cost.Shoot a cheap 180 for practice,a good 180 for hunting.Load a pile of ammo with the cheap bullet and learn the load well.Other bullet weights are embelishment.

In a 300 mag for big game hunting,if you cannot get it done with a quality 180,you will likely not get it done with anything else.

I agree.

180's, shoot plenty flat at long range deer, elk, or anything else. Doesn't kick quite as much as 200's or 220's (splitting hairs on recoil, I know, but there is a difference)

Packs plenty of wallop to take anything a 300 WM was intended to take.

If you loaded youself I would say, sure, play around with it........or I may not.

The bottom line is that a good 30 cal bullet is an effective killer. It was an awesome event when the 30-30 hit the market, it was improved when the 06 came along, & ditto for all the mag versions. I think the 308 is often underestimated for its honest effectiveness in the field, let alone a good shot with a 300 mag.Any of the weights you mentioned will get the job done on just about everything. I would happily hunt a 300 Mag using whichever one the rifle performed best with. If a quarry needs more killin', move into an AFrame, TSX, etc..

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You said the rifle likes 180's.Save the time,trouble,and component cost.Shoot a cheap 180 for practice,a good 180 for hunting.Load a pile of ammo with the cheap bullet and learn the load well.Other bullet weights are embelishment.

In a 300 mag for big game hunting,if you cannot get it done with a quality 180,you will likely not get it done with anything else.

pdxhunter, I have owned at least 4 .300 mags over the years and love the caliber for knock down killing ability and long range accuracy out to 450 yards. I draw the line on that distance for myself on animal.

Most of thoes rifles prefered 180 grain or 190 grain bullets! Yes, they did shoot the 165 ok (1.5 avg. MOA at 100 yds) as I recall. The 200 grains shot better, those being Hornady, Sierra, Nosler's and Speer. I tried the Barnes X bullet but only one rifle would shoot those 180 grainers less than 2-MOA. Remington factory ammo was used in the 180 grn and shot under 1.5 MOA. Winchester Silver Tips in 220 grain shot around 1.5 MOA in all guns at 100 yds.

Darn near all of them did shoot the 220 grains very well up to around 200 yards....distance I picked to test them. All those rifles shot 220 bullets at least 1.5 or better. These would be my pick if hunting moose in grizz country.

I would start with a bullet weight your most likely to use on the game that you plan on hunting and then either purchase several boxes of various factory brands or pick out the bullets and let your friend load them up for you. This is the only way (trial & error) that you will know exactly what your rifle shoots best ok.

Bob: I've used the 165,180, and 200 as well.All are very good and it's tough to find a bad weight.These days i stick to one bullet per rifle, or try to....but that's the beauty of a 300;lotsa weights work well.

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I have a 7mm mag. Why do I need all that other stuff?

You gotten good advise, a 180 gr in a 300 mag case is never a bad choice. That said I have had very good luck with 200 grain and 220 grain Nosler Partitions in any 300 mag case.

My very best accuracy (using hunting not match bullets) have come from 300 mags (300 win mag or 30-338) using the old 200 grain Semi-spitzer partitions (not made any more), and the newer 220 gr Nosler Partition semi RN. I don't know why but the 1-10 twist, and around 2700 to 2800 FPS works like magic.

Now what can you do with 220 grain bullets in a 300 mag. that you cannot do with a 180?? Not much, but consider the following:

I once shot a deer running at about 75 yds, with a 30-338 and 200 grain Semi-Sptz Nosler Partition. I shot and the deer dropped. On walking over I realized I shot through a 3" sapling and nailed the deer on the other side. Would a 180 have worked as well, yeah maybe. And Barnes X's were not yet invented.

I went to Africa a few years back, and used a Win Mod 70 SS in 300 win mag as my light rifle. I had two loads worked up: Nosler 220 Partitions, and Barnes 220 gr solids, both over H1000. They made a nice and deadly combo. Granted that was a limited and once in a lifetime application.

As far a recoil goes, I find 200-220 grains bullets in a 300 mag to be very mild shooting. By now you must be thinking this guy is crazy, 220 from a 300 mag will recoil more than a 180 gr going 300 FPS or more faster? WEll yes and no. Most people forget that recoil comes in two components: Pure recoil that is felt on your shoulder, and then there is recoil velocity, which is the speed it comes back. So a 180 grainer at 3100 FPS slaps your shoulder, where as a 220 grainer at 2750 pushes it. I am more sensitive to recoil velocity than pure recoil myself, and many other shooters are the same.

Another example is a 375 H&H Mag. People that have never shot one always remark after their first firing, "well that was not bad, the recoil was more a shove than a slap". Well a 300 grain bullet out of a 375 H&H moving at around 2550 FPS does indeed shove and not slap. That is the combination of high FP of Recoil and low recoil velocity.

Now if you are planning on using your 300 mag at long ranges, 300 yds plus, by all means develop and use 180 to 200 grain bullets. On the other hand, if your hunting somewhere that the trees and cover are thick, and shots planned are well less than 300 yds, and your quarry weighs more than 500 lbs. Then try the 220 grainers. I think you will astonished at how well they perform in those situations.

I'd take a look at the 212 great Hornady ELD. Fired from a 3006 it has more energy at 400 yards than a 180 gr partition from a 300 mag. It has more energy at 125 yards than a 220 great RN fired from a 300 mag. Aerodynamics matter even at moderate ranges. I can only imagine what it does at 300 mag speeds

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